A Refreshing Start
by pullingbeckettspigtails
Summary: "It's your first coffee in about eight months, it needed to be special!"


Kate turned her head on her pillow towards the direction of the hospital room door as she heard it open cautiously, but her eyelids remained closed, a small murmur the only indication to the visitor that she was awake and (slightly) present.

"Hello, love." Her husband's gentle voice spoke as he walked slowly into the room.

She heard him place something on the side table before the right side of her bed dipped, meaning that he had perched on the end of the mattress. Rick placed his hand on her bicep, stroking his thumb just under the hospital gown she was wearing.

"Noah?" Kate's voice cracked, and as the word left her lips she could almost feel her partner's grin growing.

"He's good. Asleep with all the other babies, actually. Nurses are saying he'll be a good baby for us to begin with, since he's barely kicked up a fuss so far." Rick answered, feeling giddy at just the thought of his son in the other room.

"'Barely kicked up a fuss?'" Kate repeated incredulously, lifting her eyelids up to cast a look at her husband.

"Okay, he was a bit problematic, but that was technically before he was in the world, so it doesn't count." Castle attempted to justify, a weak chuckle emitting from Kate's throat.

As she closed her eyes once more she couldn't help but wince at the memory of her son's delivery; the panicked looks shared between the medical professionals at the excessive amount of blood, the nurse snatching her new-born away from her and thrusting medication into her trembling hands instead, the mention of a blood transfusion ringing in her ears as she felt the supportive grips of her husband and her best friend tighten around both of her hands.

"Is your IV hurting?"

She was brought out of her thoughts by Rick's concerned voice, knowing that she must have been wincing as she reminisced on the past few hours.

"No, I'm fine, babe." She reassured, placing her fingers on his pant leg, stroking the fabric calmly.

"Anyway, I was talking to the doctors and they said that since you're on so much medication at the moment, it would be good for you to eat something." Rick spoke slowly, barely finished when Kate let out a groan.

"I'm not hungry though." She rebutted with a whine.

"I knew you'd say that, but I put extra work into your first snack of motherhood." He replied, feeling happy with himself when Kate cracked one eye open in suspicion, "Come on, sit up, love."

After a lot of manoeuvring, she was sitting slightly more upright in her bed as Rick placed one pillow behind her back and another behind her head.

"Close your eyes." He requested with a giddy smile.

"Castle." Kate warned in reply, her eyebrows lifting.

He sighed exaggeratedly, "Fine, but you're no fun."

Kate rolled her eyes before watching her husband lean to the side, hiding the sight of the side table with his torso.

"A small gift for the lady." Castle said gently as he placed the plate in her hands.

Kate gasped quietly as her gaze fell upon the object in her grasp. A latte in a paper cup was in the centre, but the presentation made it look anything but common. A message was written with what she assumed to be was cocoa powder, showing a simple but heartfelt statement of 'I love you'.

She felt herself welling up at the act of kindness that her husband had given to her, removing one hand from underneath the black plate to wipe underneath her eyelashes.

"You like it, right?" Castle asked tentatively, his forehead creased with worry.

"Of course I do, you goof." She replied with a laugh, moving the cup to the left slightly to inspect the other item on the plate, "How did you even find a heart shaped piece of bread?"

"I know a guy." Rick replied with an eyebrow wiggle, intending to never tell his wife that he'd sent his daughter on a wild chase for a specifically shaped piece of wheat.

Kate chuckled again, louder this time, before ever so carefully bringing the cup of coffee up to her lips, humming in pleasure as the taste hit her taste buds. She took another larger gulp before setting the drink down.

Glancing up at her partner, a smile grew across her features as she saw the childish excitement on his face at the fact that she liked her present, his blue eyes glittering.

She hoped that their son had his father's eyes, remembering how her child hadn't even opened his eyes yet before he was whisked away so Kate could be taken to the operating room.

"Who are you and what have you done with my husband?" She mused playfully, poking him in the chest.

His mouth gaped open in mock hurt, "What? I can't be romantic? It's your first coffee in about eight months, it needed to be special!"

Kate bowed her head as she laughed, the action making Rick do the same.

"I just would've expected you to draw something inappropriate, that's all." Kate replied with a teasing lilt to her words as she brought the cup to her lips once more.

"Well, it was a dick that got you into this situation, so I didn't think you'd appreciate seeing another one quite so soon."

On her third taste of coffee, she chokes.

* * *

 **Thanks so much for reading!**

 **The first of many Summer fics, hopefully! I did have plans that were going to keep me occupied until the end of August, but they fell through. However, instead of focusing on the negative, I'm going to try to keep myself busy in other ways, including writing fic. So if you have any prompts, send them my way :)**

 **Lou xo**


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